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French parliament stops when a member yelled, “Go back to Africa”
A far-right MP exclaimed, “They should go back to Africa,” as a black colleague discussed immigration, causing the French parliament to come to a standstill.
A National Rally (RN) member named Grégoire de Fournas later claimed that his remark was not intended for Carlos Martens Bilongo personally but rather for migrants sailing to Europe.
Mr Bilongo said he had been born in France and the remark was “shameful”.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said there was “no room for racism”.
On Friday, the bureau of the National Assembly will meet and, after hearing from Mr. de Fournas, determine what to do.
Mr. Bilongo had been pressing the authorities over SOS Méditerranée’s plea for assistance in locating a port for 234 migrants who had recently been saved at sea.
Because the National Rally MP’s comment could have been made in reference to one or more people, its precise meaning was ambiguous. Qu’il retourne en Afrique, which is how the official account of the session described his off-microphone comment, sounds exactly the same in the plural Qu’ils retournent en Afrique.
When Mr de Fournas made his remark, the Speaker, Yaël Braun-Pivet, demanded to know who had spoken. Then, as MPs chanted “Out! Out! Out!”, she suspended the session, declaring, “This is not possible.”
Mr Bilongo, an MP from the the left-wing party France Unbowed (LFI), said: “Today it’s come back to the colour of my skin. I was born in France, I am a French MP.”
Mr de Fournas was adamant he had been referring to the “boat transporting migrants to Europe”, but he later apologised to Mr Bilongo for “the misunderstanding” his comments had caused and if he had been hurt by them.
LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon tweeted that the MP’s comments were “beyond intolerable” and he should be kicked out of the National Assembly.
This year, both the RN’s presidential and legislative campaigns focused heavily on immigration, with party leader Marine Le Pen suggesting a referendum on significant immigration restrictions if she were elected president.
The party won 89 seats in the National Assembly during the June legislative election, tenfold increasing its representation there.
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